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[Heavy]

I have a short time to decide on the extended warranty for the bike,
Should I buy the warranty for up to seven years or not? Whats your opinion? I know its an old subject but help a brother out.

Thanks

[h2oski]

A couple of questions that I think you need to answer first.

How long do you plan on keeping the bike?

How many miles annually do you ride?

Do you plan to or have you already made major modifications to the engine?

How much do they want for the warranty?

If you only plan on keeping the bike for a couple of years it probably isn't worth the investment and I don't think it really adds to the resale value.  Especially is someone like me were to buy it since I do all of my own maintenance.

If you ride a lot you may notice some of the higher mileage failures that most people don't.  Such as worn cam tensioners.   The main issues that I see with these bikes are electical issues and engine oil leaks.  If you bike hasn't had any oil leaks yet I would be willing to bet it will stay leak free for a long time.  Electrical issues can pop up at anytime and can be difficult and expensive to fix.

If you have made any major modifacations to your engine it may be a struggle to get engine repairs covered under the warranty.  It depends a lot on how good your dealership is about pushing to have items covered.

Think of it as insurance.  Odds are that you will never have a repair bill that exceeds your investment in the extended warranty.  It usually has to be a pretty major problem for the repair to get that high.  My personal opinion is that you would be better off taking that money and investing it and if you ever need to make a repair in the future you will have that money and more to fix it.  Just my 2 cents.

[mr_magoo]

I think he covered it very well.   [smiley=1syellow1.gif]

[Kingsalmon]

On the other hand, when I purchased my Ultra in 01, I bought the 7 year extended. At about 18000 miles I started getting leaks in a couple of places that would have cost me $3500 to fix. It wound up costing me $50. At 20000 miles some modulator went out and it cost me another $50 including the tow because I was a zillion miles from home.

I never buy extended warranty on my trucks/cars, but would not think of owning a HD without it. I'm sure I will sell my SEEG before the warranty is up.

That warranty cost me $1299 on top of the $32000 the bike cost me OTD. It was just a drop in the bucket.  

[110tHunDer]

All good comments above.  Myself, I bought a four-year extended warranty on my '02 EG and a six-year for the SEEG.  While I  but haven't used it myself on either bike so far, I've heard enough stories like Kingsalmon's where the warranty has paid for itself many times over.

As far as the resale value, the extended warranties are fully transferable and in my experience of selling my '02 give a lot of piece-of-mind to the new owner buying a bike that is past the manufacturer's warranty.  Maybe it doesn't add to the resale value per se, but I think it does make a bike more "saleable" over one that doesn't have it.